Bridgeport Man Sentenced In Federal Sex Trafficking Case

BRIDGEPORT, CT — Thirty-three-year-old Bridgeport resident Darryl Morris, also known as "King Sincere,"was sentenced today to 14 years in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for sex trafficking of a 15-year-old girl, announced United States Attorney John H. Durham. The sentenced was handed down by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven.

According to prosecutors and court documents, Morris met a 15-year-old girl who was working in prostitution in New York in November, 2014, and shortly thereafter, "Morris brought the minor victim to his home in Bridgeport and arranged to have advertisements of her prostitution services posted on Backpage.com."

The girl then "began to see prostitution customers at Morris' residence and gave the money she received to Morris." Additionally, Morris also drove her to other locations in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., where she saw prostitution customers.

"The minor victim worked as a prostitute for Morris from November 2014 to April 2015, and from November 2015 to May 2016, seeing approximately 10 customers per day," wrote prosecutors in a statement. "Morris engaged in sexual activity with the minor victim, and began beating her a few weeks after she arrived in Bridgeport."

Investigators found the girl at a hotel in East Hartford in May 2016 after she contacted her mother who then called police. Morris had recently beaten the minor victim, who had visible scars and signs of physical abuse. She also had a tattoo on the back of her neck with the name "King Sin" underneath a large bar code.

Morris was arrested in August 2016 and has been detained ever since. He pleaded guilty to one count of sex trafficking of a minor in May 2017.

In addition to the prison sentence, Judge Meyer also ordered Morris to pay the minor victim restitution of $100,000, "which is a conservative estimate of how much money the minor victim earned in prostitution when she was with Morris."

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Bridgeport Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, Stratford Police Department and New York Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarala V. Nagala and Stephen B. Reynolds.

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